There are many critical problems that are influencing the status of literature and the teaching of literature in the United States today, according to this paper. Some of the problems cited are the poor quality of recent best selling books; the smaller number of people who read books compared to the number of people who read magazines and newspapers, the current vogue of contemporary literature courses and the unpopularity of traditional literature classes in colleges, a trend to basic skills courses away from literature electives and an omission of literature in competency tests in high schools, the higher costs of paperbacks used to supplement the hardback anthologies that are so susceptible to the censor's influence, new copyright laws that restrict supplementing the hardback anthologies with teachers' favorite materials, and the relative paucity of money recently allocated to library services. The important humanizing factors involved in experiencing literature are noted and an appeal is made to teachers to see that literature not only endures but flourishes in human lives. (MKM)